Interview on KRUU-fm transcript (part 3)

Dennis Raimondi : … and I gotta think if it comes to you in a dream it’ll come later.For those who are just tunning in you’re listening to kruu-lp 101.fm my name is Dennis Raimondi and my guest today is singer/songwriter Eli Lieb who’s got an album he’s launching and a concert , coming up friday … a week from this coming friday for those listening to this today. July 8th 2011, 7:30 pm at the Sondheim Center at the performing arts here in Fairfield , Iowa . If you want more information about Eli call into the station and we’ll get you that information. So Eli you … I’m fascinated by this you posted up … you started posting up videos of you performing either original songs or covers , you know songs of others.And … I don’t know, a year ago or whenever that was, and now you have close to 1 millions hits. That’s a lot ! cause I posted stuff up on youtube and maybe I get 200 hits maximum , so it’s not easy to attract …Tell us about where you got the idea to do this and how it works , what the experience has been like

Eli Lieb : It’s been a cool experience to see the numbers grow like that in a short period of time. It first came about … I have a good friend of mine back in New York who is in the music industry and kind of really knows how things work and he had a suggestion to start putting cover songs on youtube . And the reason why you start with doing cover song is that people , let’s say they like Katy Perry or Lady Gaga, you know those are some of the most searched artists on youtube . So they search for the song that they like or search a cover of it so if you put yourself out there and do that song they’ll have a much better chance of seeing you and then once you have sort of ropped them in , you can then show them your own music. But you have … like if I would only put up my own music just from the start I would probably not have been seen , because you need that platform so by putting other people songs that people are searching for your enabling them to see you . And if they like you they can search further with your stuff.

DR : So you go to youtube.com , you put in “Eli Lieb” and stuff starts coming up .

EL: Yeah

DR : Which one … songs that you put up that started to get massive amount of hits ?

EL : Well , I mean usually if you’re gonna do it this way , the bigger the artist the more hits you’ll get . You know I mean, I could put a Justin Bieber song and get a lot of views but I’m sort of not willing to go quite there.

DR : Right

EL: But I definetely put up a good amount of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and those are definately the ones that have the most views .

DR :Right , and I’ve also … I looked at a lot of these , and some of the comments … you have … some extremely loyal fans. Your CD was originally gotta come out on July 12th that’s been changed but one person wrote “Oh can I just go to sleep and wake up and it’d be July 12th , I cant wait … I’m crazy about your stuff , this is fantastic …”

EL : I know !

DR : You know ,my stuff wouldn’t get that Eli . So … Your talent is coming out … Are there many other people that has so many hits on youtube ?

EL : It’s … I mean youtube is such a difficult thing cause you will have people who get a million times more hits than me based off of who knows what .There’s this weird X factor to youtube that just … there’s no ….. reason to a lot of it . I mean there are people on youtube who have, you know , billions of views . But it’s not usually representative , completely of of …

DR : It can be really gimmicky

EL : Very gimmicky , yeah !

DR : And you want to avoid that you go right to the music . Right , what excites me about this just looking at it as an outsider from the industry is that .. . you know , in the past there was a very traditional road you had to take if you wanted to become a singer/songwriter , become popular . And that was … you know it involved going to a middle person , to a studio whatever like this … This way with youtube you can actually get to people directly , and you can sell a CD , you can sell music , directly without ever dealing with a studio , is that right ?

EL : Yeah , I mean the internet is amazing for music now . I mean right now I’m starting to gather like a team of people who are helping me , but it started off completely on my own , I’m still basically my own record label . And because of youtube , because of the internet I’m able to reach the entire world , so the potential … there’s so much more than there was even five years ago , I mean when I started to do music in New York it wasn’t even … around .

DR : It’s very exciting because it’s becoming decentralised , there’s no longer these big compagnies that control everything , you know they could make you and break you in a second .(I modified this sentence a little bit ) Now people can go directly to audiences . Young people access information and music differently than older people .

EL : Yeah , and people really like being really involved , they like thinking that they’ve discovered you . They like knowing that they can be part of you journey , you know , a part of your rise . And I really try to make all of the fans that I have to know how much I appreciate them , and know that it’s really … I mean it’s not just saying , it’s really because of them that I’m able to keep on furthering and get , you know, the higher places of my career . Because they are posting my songs on their facebook , twitter they’re playing it for friends . I mean it’s really social-networking .

DR : Yeah that’s the social-network , they post from youtube to their facebook , to their friends … So if you have a million hits it could be significantly more than that in terms of the people that have heard you or who have been interested in you . Ok so we have a few minutes left , what’s the game played from here .You have this concert friday july 8th …. and at the some point in the next few months your CD will actually be released .What might be the approach at this point

EL : Well all of that right now is TBA I must say .

DR : To Be Announced .

EL : Yes, I’m working with some people now , who … I don’t know how to say it . Who are good at really spreading music around you know … I recently gained more people working with me , it sort of … this is what they do . Which is why I’m pushing the release date back , cause we’re gonna , really promote this thing right . Whereas before it was just gonna be me releasing on my own , now I have people more on the inside who know what to do .

DR : And that’ll be sometime in the next few month whenever that might be .

EL : Yeah

DR : And in the meantime you’re still writing music or …

EL : Yeah I’m already like ,two songs into the next album so …

DR : And what do you enjoy most , being a songwriter or a performer . What do you enjoy above all else .

EL : I think it’s a combination and it goes in waves , like right now I’m really liking and enjoying recording and creating music . I mean I love performing too but it’s new to me so I’m really enjoying that , and I’m enjoying what has opened up in my own creativity , in my own writing .

DR : Well Eli thank you so much for taking the time to come on . You’re listening to kruu-lp 101.fm . My name is Dennis Raimondi and the guest today has been mister Eli Lieb , he’s a singer , songwriter performer . After ten years in New York he’s back in Fairfield etc .

We have time for one more question , I’ve heard you said recently that you were surprised about the collection of talent that exist in Fairfield .It is a place where creative people can come and be surrounded by other creative people .

EL : Yeah it really is , just in the past couple weeks I’ve seen a bunch of different shows of local Fairfield songwriters and performers and they’re really cool , I’m not just saying that .

DR : No no , other people from the industry have said that .

EL : It’s a really good community of artist whatever they’re doing .

DR : Supportive .

EL : Yeah , supportive… , and you know … it’s great

DR : All right Eli thank for taking the time to come on .

EL : Thanks for having me !

Once again , I changed a few sentences but you should be able to understand the interview anyway .